Ethel, 1937

Ethel at work in 1965 alongside the Elder Dempster liner Aureol

Ethel worked as a gig-boat around the docks of Liverpool and the Wirral. Gig-boats transported mooring ropes from deep-sea ships to the quaysides and would also transfer people and luggage between ships and land.

Ethel was built by Hornby & Co of Wallasey in 1937 for use as a punt on the Liverpool pilot cutter 'William M. Clarke', but her experimental design proved unpopular. After a number of alterations, Ethel was used as a gig boat in Birkenhead and Bromborough docks before being given to the Maritime Museum in 1980 by the Liverpool Boatmen Association.